I was so anxious about how Brooks would be on our Disney trip the few weeks leading up to it. I spent countless hours reading websites and blogs about traveling with a 3 month old & Disney with a 3 month old {and life in general, with a 3 month old}. I went back and forth about what to pack, got nervous about how he would be on the flight, drove my husband slightly crazy about what stroller would be best to bring and did tons of research on the best sunscreen option {for a baby under 6 months}. Today I am here to share with you a little of what it was like to travel {and do Disney!} with a 3 month old.

Spoiler Alert -> It was pretty awesome!

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In the Airport -

In the airport we checked in our luggage, with Brooks in his stroller {more on that below} and we made our way to security. I planned on wearing him from that point to the gage & that’s exactly what I did. Wearing him through security was really easy and in the Philadelphia airport I didn’t have to remove my shoes or take my laptop out of my bag {but I did coming home from Orlando}. I also traveled with 3 bottles of {4 oz.} breast milk containers and didn’t have any problem with that at all. I was planning on nursing Brooks the majority of the time on our trip, but wanted to have access to bottles in case of an emergency { and so I could have a drink or two at night} – I stored them in my bottle bag with frozen ice packs and they were good to go.

On the Flights -

I knew from our pediatrician and heard from countless friends that I had to nurse him on the ascent & descent of the plane to make sure his ears were comfortable for takeoff & landing with the pressure changes. So that’s exactly what I did. I used my favorite nursing cover and did my best to get the timing right. Brooks is at the point where he is a really efficient nurser – he usually takes 15 – {maybe} 20 minutes to feed, which is awesome, but you never know how long take-off or landing will be so I tried my best to wait as long as I could.

Both ways up were easier than the decent – on the way there we had to be re-routed a bit because of a storm around the airport, which made the trip down a lot longer than Brooks could manage to nurse. He lasted about halfway down the descent and was fine. On the way back to Philly the trip was quicker and he was fidgety during nursing – not sure if he was hot or what, but he managed to keep his pacifier in so he was good to go.

He was a trooper for both flights – it’s crazy to think my little 3 month old has already had his first flight on an airplane, but he did a great job. Luckily the flights were only around 2 hours long! He hung out on our laps during the flight down and slept for most of the flight home in his carseat. I packed a bag of toys for reinforcement but when he was up he was pretty happy just looking around, I also think the hum of the plane helped him sleep a bit too.

On Our Hotel -

Since we had the opportunity to take this trip along with Charles’ company, luckily for us the rooms were paid for – and even luckier for us, they were nice ones! We stayed at Disney’s Contemporary Resort – one of the original hotels at Disney – but all the rooms have been renovated and its now an ultra-modern hotel experience.

Side Note – My Grandma actually stayed here when the hotel first opened!

The absolute best part {for us} about this hotel is that it’s on the monorail line. As new parents, traveling with a little one, this was KEY to our Disney experience, not to mention the fact that this hotel was within walking distance {only a 10 minute walk} away from Magic Kingdom. Being able to easily come and go to our hotel room was awesome, especially when pushing around a stroller all day. Having to go on buses and break down the stroller each time & stop at a bunch of different resorts would have been tough for us with all our gear & our tight nursing schedule.

Being able to hop on & off the monorail was awesome. Plus it totally rocked Brooks to sleep every time we rode it!

During our stay at the hotel we utilized the fact that all Disney hotels offer free pack n plays for babies. While we are still in the process of getting Brooks used to sleeping in his crib every night, he is used to sleeping in his pack n play in our room, since he is still feeding during the night. So this worked out well for us – we had no sleep issues with the little guy during our trip, in fact, he slept like a champ every night. Not sure if it was the busy days or the heat/humidity that knocked him out but he was an awesome little sleeper in the hotel.

Side Note: I did bring my own sheets from home for him to sleep in.

On the Rides -

So we actually only went on a handful of rides during our trip. We went on -> It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid {in the new section of the park} in Magic Kingdom, Living with the Land and the Seas in Epcot and Kilimanjaro Safari, Everest {without the baby} and the Maharajah Jungle Trek {which is basically a self-guided walking tour, we kept him in the stroller for this} in Animal Kingdom. There are more rides/attractions than you would think that are actually baby-friendly, not to mention all the shows Disney offers, but we weren’t able to fit much into our time at the parks between the weather and his nursing schedule.

Luckily, Charles & I have both been to Disney before, so we have done all the rides & seen most of the sights. For us, we spent the majority of this trip walking around the parks – Disney does such a great job with all their theme parks that it really is just nice to walk around, checking it all out.

On the Great Stroller Debate -

I went back and forth for weeks whether to bring our umbrella stroller or our regular stroller with the carseat attachment. It seriously drove me insane because I knew we would be using it all the time and taking the stroller that would keep Brooks comfortable and happy would be best for everyone. We ended up taking the Cruz stroller base with the carseat attachment and it worked out perfectly. It was great to be able to snap and unsnap the carseat as needed. We used the carseat in the flight and he slept in it, which was awesome for both of us to be handsfree and it was easy to transport him on the bus rides to and from the airport/parks. Having the carseat made it easy to bring him in to restaurants too, most of the time he slept through our meals so it was nice to leave him sleeping soundly.

The Cruz also is such a easy stroller to push and maneuver around the parks, not to mention the storage underneath was key. We kept everything we needed all day under the stroller and more, it was easy to have access to what we needed without having to carry it around ourselves. Brooks isn’t mobile at this point so he is super happy being pushed around in his stroller & napping in his carseat. I’m so glad we brought this stroller option with us on our trip at this stage.

Our stroller also came with a great rain shield that we ended up bringing since I checked the fore case ahead of time and it said rain and the shield was amazing. It kept Brooks dry & he was happily able to look around and still see the sights. If we did’t have this with us we wouldn’t have been able to be out and about in the rainy weather & would have been stuck in the hotel all day, so this was great to have in our suitcase!

Side Note: Ask at any Disney hotel for the First Visit button for the little one! Such a cute little {free} souvenir!

On the Parks -

Disney makes traveling with a baby pretty easy. The Baby Care Centers in the parks are awesome. They have massive areas to change the baby, where mom & dad can both be together {and they are constantly cleaning them} – they also have really great nursing mothers rooms {even though you can nurse anywhere in Disney} and an area where you can purchase anything you might need to buy in a pinch for baby. We planned much of our days around Brooks’ nursing schedules and the Baby Care Centers were great places to get out of the heat {or in our case, the rain} – can’t say enough good things about them!

When Brooks was awake & wanted to be out and about I happily carried him around in his carrier. I brought both the Pikkolo carrier {black, shown below} & his Mei Tai carrier with me {we have that one in green}. He loves both of them and even though the Mei Tai is a little lighter & made with organic fabric, in the florida humidity it still got a little toasty in there.

Side Note: I brought two carriers incase we had a diaper blowout in one of them. #planahead

When he wasn’t in his stroller and his carrier got too hot, Charles & I took turns carrying him. He’s 13 pounds at this point so he isn’t light, but he isn’t crazy heavy either. He loved being out and about and really enjoyed looking around at all the fun things Disney has to enjoy. He would also just as easily fall asleep on me as he would in his carrier or stroller.

On the Pool-

Brooks had his first dip in the pool during our time in Disney. I asked my doctor about what sunscreen to use {since he is under 6 months old} and while my plan was to keep him out of the sun and covered as much as possible, I still wanted some sort of barrier to protect his skin. She gave me some great suggestions and we ended up using BabyGanics and loved it! I bought a big size to bring to the pool/beach in the summer and two smaller sizes – one to keep in the stroller & one to keep in the diaper bag!

In the pool for his diapers we ended up using little swimmers, even though he is a few pounds shy of the smallest suggested size we paired them with waterproof diaper covers and his swim suit overtop {yes, he had a lot going on!} and it did the trick! We weren’t in the pool that long but everything stayed in!

On Disney with an Infant {overall} -

All in all, it was an awesome trip. I’m glad we got to take Brooks at such a young age, I really think it was perfect timing for us. He isn’t mobile yet so he was happy to sit in his stroller and be pushed around all day as long as he was fed & his diaper was fresh. He is still at the point where he is sleeping every two hours or so, and as long as he got his nap in, he was good to go. This meant we were able to plan meals and other things around his schedule. He’s also a good sleeper {and a pretty happy baby} so even when we took a nap we were able to meet friends for a drink or go for a stroll around the parks. He was easy to take with us wherever we wanted to go and we still got to do {for the most part} whatever we wanted to do.

I hope I answered all your questions about my traveling with a baby! Please let me know if there are any other questions you may have for me!

Nikki – great questions! I think I stressed a little more than I needed to about the trip as a whole, but for me, as a new mom traveling with a baby for the first time, it was to be expected. Brooks is typically a pretty chill baby & he didn’t really change how he acted or stray to far from him regular schedule while we were away, he actually slept a little better in the hotel than he had been at home!

The only thing I wasn’t ready for was when Brooks had a bit of a fit during a dinner show one night, but it was SUPER loud and he had never experienced anything like it before, so I think it was just the noise that freaked him out, because other than that he was great. The whole thing was a bunch of new experiences and firsts for him – he was a trooper!

ALL THINGS BABY

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disclaimer

I am not a registered dietitian. The posts I make are based entirely on my own workouts and meals. They should not be taken as medical advice. Please talk with your doctor about any diet or exercise program.